Lucius Gaius awoke with a start when the door of the hut crashed open. His wife, lying next to him, let out a terrified shriek and Lucius reassured her, saying it was only the wind ... before he went to investigate.

Their modest home had but two rooms, one for sleeping and the other for all other purposes, and when he fumbled his way out of the darkness of the bedroom he found the shack's rough wooden entrance door wide open ... although he was sure he had barred it. There was no wind when Lucius stepped outside. The moon was at its zenith and all was quiet in the cluster of fishermen's huts. He went back inside and lit a small oil lamp before closing the door firmly. In the dim light from the lamp, he looked warily around the small living room expecting to find something amiss and trembled when he saw the latest manifestation to plague his household. A net he had been repairing floated above his head. As he watched, transfixed by fear, the net swirled as if being cast by an invisible fisherman ... and then dropped, enveloping him in its mesh. The flame of the oil lamp guttered and went out.

***

In the pre-dawn, Lucius walked down to the beach and met with Titus and Manius who had already started to get the boat the three men shared readied for work. All around the small cove, others were doing the same. The peaceful settlement of fisherfolk had supplied the nearby town of Pompeii for generations, but now Lucius could sense the tension that blighted their village.

Manius nodded at Lucius as he joined them to help finish the preparations before they pushed the boat into the sea. Even in the half-light, Lucius could discern the dark shadows circling his friend's eyes. For several days now, no night had been undisturbed.

As soon as they had set the lateen sail, Manius spoke.

'The gods have turned against us. We have not fulfilled our obligations to them. Our offerings have been insufficient.'

'My family give offerings at every meal,' Titus objected. 'Even when we have hardly enough to feed ourselves! Surely the gods cannot expect us to starve while their share of our food rots on a shrine!'

Titus went on to describe how he had awakened in the night to find his baby daughter levitated above her makeshift cot. The baby's long white cotton gown had flowed like a ghostly apparition in the moonlight from an open window. She was too young to know what was happening and had only begun to cry when her mother had sat up and screamed at the sight. Titus had leapt up and grabbed the child before she could fall.

'There is an evil spirit moving among us,' said Manius. 'It is invading every home. No one is spared. My own sleep was interrupted when a jug of water next to my bed was overturned and soaked me.'

'You might have knocked it over in your sleep,' Lucius pointed out, knowing he was grasping at a straw.

***

As the acknowledged patriarch of the settlement, Lucius summoned the head of each household to a meeting that same afternoon while the women cleaned and gutted the catch. They would try and make sense of the situation and propose a solution. Life could not continue like this. The men had tried to make light of the phenomena at first, but the incidents were increasing both in frequency and intensity and the women and children had grown fearful of the night.

'There is no doubt that a spirit has entered the village and is unhappy with our presence here,' Lucius concluded after much debate. 'I know that you have all given offerings and prayed to the gods and nothing has worked. The spirit refuses to be appeased. I believe we must leave this place as soon as possible and build a new life further along the coast.'

Despite the reluctance of the menfolk to uproot their families, no other solution could be found and it was agreed that they should begin loading all their possessions into the boats immediately. On the following morning, they would take their leave. 

As if in response to their decision, that night was the first in a week that passed untroubled. Lucius was convinced this was a sign that their course of action was the correct one and, at last, the spirit was satisfied.

***

By mid-morning the next day, the loading was complete and it took a dozen strong men and women to drag each heavily laden vessel into the water. Most folks had partially dismantled their shack to save the best timbers for their new homes. Children ran up and down the beach excitedly gathering the treasured possessions they needed for their new adventure. The few goats the villagers kept to provide milk bleated piteously from their unfamiliar accommodation in the bowels of one of the boats.

The small fleet raised their sails as one and headed out to sea, Lucius's boat leading the way. He had instructed everyone to continue well out into the deep ocean before turning south, in order to avoid the many reefs and shoals along the coast.

An hour passed before Lucius judged they were far enough from shore. He was about to give the signal to change course when Titus grasped his arm with a cry of alarm. At the same moment, a thunderous rumble reached their ears across the expanse of water.

'Look at that!' Titus gasped.

Lucius turned and gazed in awe at the sight. The great mountain that rose skyward behind the distant city of Pompeii was a mass of smoke and flame.

'It is Vesuvio!' Lucius exclaimed. 'The fires of Hades are unleashed!'

Manius and their passengers scrambled to the stern of the boat to watch the horrifying spectacle. The more sharp-eyed among them could see crimson rivers flowing down towards the coast and related this to the others. The summer sky grew midnight dark as ash obscured the sun, making the glowing streams plainly visible in the gloom. Even at that distance, the fisherfolk could feel the heat emanating from the inferno.

Lucius Gaius could only stand in stunned silence as the disaster unfolded before his eyes. The entire coastline was on fire and, as he watched, the first scarlet rivulets touched the sea and erupted into clouds of white steam.

He fell to his knees and began to give thanks for the intervention of the Spirit of Stabiae that had saved all their lives. He knew in his heart that nothing but fear of the unknown would have persuaded the villagers to leave their homes that day. 

And, one by one, the others all followed suit, vowing always to honour their guardian angel. The spirit they now knew was watching over them.